Tomb Figure of a Knight

Noble tombs in Europe often contain figures that portray the deceased. Here, alabaster has been intricately carved to show the textile pattern on the pillow and the chain mail of the armor—all indicators that the deceased was an aristocratic knight.

After the opening of her museum, Isabella Gardner took up a new interest in Spanish art, partly because Italian Renaissance paintings had become too expensive. In 1906, she visited Madrid, where she bought this sculpture. In 1914, she rebuilt part of the museum as the Spanish Cloister (for Sargent’s El Jaleo) and the Spanish Chapel. Isabella Gardner left instructions that her body should lie in state just outside this chapel—in death she would enact the same pose as the stone knight.

The Knight was cleaned in 2007 using a laser cleaner, an innovative technique to remove dirt and environmental depositions from the alabaster surface. The laser emits energy that is absorbed exclusively by dark materials, loosening dirt without damaging the pale alabaster surface. Old plaster restorations to the Knight’s nose and left ankle were also improved using tinted wax to simulate the appearance of the alabaster stone.